Cultura e julgamento em face das normas contábeis internacionais

Pode-se dizer que estudos anteriores à existência do IASB já apontavam potenciais dificuldades em uma tentativa de fazer convergir normas internacionais de qualquer intenção. Geert Hofstede em estudo publicado em 1982, com dados coletados em mais de 40 países chama a atenção para a questão dos elementos culturais como definidores de diferenças substanciais no agir e julgar das pessoas.

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I hold that the stability of national cultures over long periods of history is achieved through a system of constant reinforcement, because societal norms lead to particular political, organizational, and intellectual structures and processes, and these in turn lead to self-fulfilling prophecies in people´s perceptions of reality, which reinforce social norms. It is difficult to recognize this process in one´s own culture. A deep and often painfully acquired empathy with other cultures is required before one becomes sensitive to the range of societal norms which our genus homo sapiens has been able to invent and to the relativity of our society´s norms. We find this eloquently expressed in the quote from Pascal at the beginning of this book: “There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees which are falsehoods on the other .” (Hofstede, p. 253. 1982)
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Já com o vislumbre da tentativa de convergência das normas contábeis internacionais passou-se a ver autores chamando a atenção para a questão das possíveis divergências na aplicação e interpretação das mesmas. O ponto a que esses autores se referem diz respeito às diversas influências a que estão sujeitos os contadores quando da análise do conteúdo dos preceitos.

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Estudo publicado por J.J. Schultz (2001, p. 284) no The International Journal of Accounting assim dispõe sobre o assunto:

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Considerable research has demonstrated that national accounting system result in significant reporting differences (...). The IASC has recently completed a set of uniform standards that are intended to overcome these differences for companies domiciled in various countries. Some observers (…) however, contend that de jure consistency will not necessarily result in de facto consistency in the application of these standards across countries (…). Our results suggest that uniform international accounting standards may not result in de facto uniformity among nations, particularly when the standards allow for significant discretion (ambiguity).
Our results also support the notion advanced by Sharp and Salter (1997) that national cultural characteristics may interact with behavioral propositions (…) .
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Em linha com a proposição acima, e já sob influência do IASB, novo estudo foi publicado também no periódico The International Journal of Accounting por Timothy S. Doupnik (2006, p.238 a 254), que assim retrata a questão:
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A growing number of countries have adopted International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) developed by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), and other countries plan to adopt or converge with IFRSs in the future. One goal of international accounting convergence is the comparability of financial statements across countries. Adoption of a common set of accounting standards is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to achieve this goal. Accountants in different countries also must interpret and apply the common standards similarly.
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The practical implications of these results are important in that they suggest that national cultural values can affect accountants´ interpretation of probability expressions used in IFRSs, and as a result, differences in cultural values across countries could lead to differences in recognition and disclosure decisions based on those interpretations .
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Não menos receosa das particularidades culturais que permeiam a interpretação e aplicação das normas contábeis internacionais a SEC - Securities and Exchange Comission fez publicar o Release 33-8831, em agosto de 2007, de onde se destaca a seguinte redação:
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In 2003, the Commission staff issued a study on the adoption of a principles-based accounting system, as mandated by Congress in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The conclusion of that study was that an optimal approach to accounting standard setting would be based on a consistently applied conceptual framework and clearly stated objectives rather than solely on either rules or principles, one benefit of which would be the facilitation of greater convergence between U.S. GAAP and international accounting standards. By taking an objectives-based approach to convergence, the study noted, standard setters would be able to arrive at an agreement on a principle more quickly than would be possible for a detailed rule. The Commission staff´s report to Congress interpreted convergence as a “process of continuing discovery and opportunity to learn by both U.S. and international standard setters,” the benefits of which include greater comparability and improved capital formation globally .
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Observando-se o conteúdo bibliográfico citado é possível indicar que o tema ora proposto merece total consideração da comunidade científica que estuda a convergência como fenômeno, se efetivamente almejada uma convergência material na aplicação das normas contábeis.